My First Nutrition Lab

Cynthia Pedro
NUTR121
Professor Janice Grover
03/02/2012

Gone are the days in which a family would grow and raise all of their own nutrition. We now rely so heavily upon fast food and extended shelf life that it makes you wonder how we are even still living. Food companies compete for best tasting, easy to prepare, shelf stable foods that are inexpensive for them to make. As consumers we should all be aware of what goes into our food to make it taste so good, look appetizing and last so long.

Lab one was a series of four experiments to determine the chemical and physical properties of thickening agents used in our foods, the effect of storage conditions on vitamin c, the use of enzymes in food production and a food label analysis from a processed food.

Part A was a comparison of food thickeners which consisted of us taking two sample vials containing .3 g of cornstarch and .3 g of modified food starch respectively. 10 ml of vinegar was added to each vial followed by 2ml of vegetable oil. After shaking the mixtures for 15 seconds the following observations were made.

Substance Observations

With oil and vinegar after shaking

Cornstarch

White in color, looked like milk, seemed thick in consistency, slight layer on bottom, some oil separation on top.

Modified Food Starch

White but a little more transparent than cornstarch results, separated quicker, oil on top, seemed almost grainy with floating particles.

The second portion of part A tested result of different levels of guar gum. Two vials were used, one containing .2 g guar gum and the other containing 2 g guar gum. 10ml of vinegar and 2ml vegetable oil was added to both and shaken for 15 seconds. Contents were examined 5-10 minutes later and the following observations were noted.

Guar Gum Observations after shaking

.2 g + oil and vinegar
Immediate:
Milky White, gel like, no oil line, no floating particles.
After 10 minutes:
No oil separation, gel like, can't see thru.
2 g + oil and vinegar
Immediate:
Very thick, beige color, no oil line
After 10 minutes:
Very solid, dry, can't see through.

Based on the results of this experiment I concluded the guar gum, which is not digestible, mixes easier, becomes a lot thicker, and maintains its form over time. The corn starch and modified cornstarch had obvious separation and was more difficult to blend. I think a food manufacturer would naturally choose the guar gum to thicken their product and maintain consistency.

For part B we tested levels of Vitamin C from three different packaging sources. We used sample from Frozen orange juice concentrate, 100% orange juice ...

You are currently seeing 50% of this paper.

You're seeing 478 words of 956.

Read the full essay

Fluorescence Study Of Dyes

1. Introduction Coumarin 1 and Sodium fluorescein are two dyes which absorb and emit light in the visible region. By using a spectrophotometer we are recording an absorption spectrum and then determining the molar decadic absorption coefficients, which will be used later to interpret and analyse the fluorescence spectra. For fluorescence spectra, t...

63 reviews

Download

Adamantane

The unique nature of diamond is heavily dependent upon its composition, crystal structure, and mechanical, thermal, and electromagnetic properties.1 Of those dependencies, composition exacts the most influence over the characteristics. Crystal structure is the repeating pattern of diamond's composition, and each of the properties are the result of...

209 reviews

Download

A Medical And Moral Look At Ectopic Pregnancy

The complexity of the human reproductive system is unbelievable baffling. The fact that the egg even leaves the protection of the ovary and starts its journey down the fallopian tube is remarkable. The process by which the sperm manage to scurry their way to meet the egg through the hostile environment of a woman's body isanother great accomplishme...

96 reviews

Download

To What Extent Does Acid Precipitation Affect Annelids?

? In order to truly understand acid rain and it's eventual effect on earthworms, it would be best to look at the causes of acid rain. How and why does altered acidity in precipitation have a devastating effect? Acid rain is charecterized as "Precipitation that has a pH lower than about 5.0" (Allaby, Michael (1994) Ecology, Oxford Press,). Acid ra...

114 reviews

Download

Blood Doping

Running the Race to Obtain the Prize? Each year athlete's ability to perform seems to increase by leaps and bounds. Some reasons for this can be attributed to better training methods, better conditioning techniques, and better over all health of the athlete. While most situations involve one or more of the previously scenarios, some athletes alwa...

94 reviews

Download